How to set up a pre-sale offer
by Vervante •
Want to know the best time to promote your new product?
Before it's officially available!
Preselling is a powerful marketing strategy that everyone can benefit from. The presale period is so important, in fact, it should be the centerpiece of your marketing and promotional campaign. What is a presale? It's that period of time when you're in the final stretch, polishing up your new product and preparing for the big launch, but not quite ready to print and ship.
Presales offer several big benefits
#1: Takes the guesswork out of knowing how many books, etc to print ahead of time if you want to use bulk printing
#2: Helps offset the cost of printing, marketing, etc. by collecting payment for the product before you officially launch it.
#3: Generates good "buzz" to support stronger sales
How to generate interest in preorders
Preorders work wonders for building buzz and building excitement about your upcoming launch. They can lead to more sales initially and lead to sustained sales over time as well. But how can you convince readers to buy a product when it isn’t available to read yet?
Offer free swag: This is a popular strategy, and it works! Give readers an extra incentive to preorder and something that offers instant gratification to hold them over until official launch day.
Send a digital gift pack: If you're on a budget, this is a more economical version of swag. Send them downloads, recordings, exclusive short stories, extras they can print and add to the planner, etc.
Form a fan squad: If you have a group of friends and fans who are excited about your upcoming launch, harness that power by asking them to be your official launch team. Send them early copies so they can leave reviews and recommendations. Let them share details about the new book on their own social media and give them special links to let their followers pre-order.
Use your social media: Give your social media images an update by adding information or images about your upcoming launch. Have a strategy that takes readers on a journey to get them invested and excited such as cover reveals, printing snapshots, excerpts and more.
Send an email to subscribers: If you have a mailing list, (every author should), then you already have a group of people who are interested in what you are doing. Send them updates, build the excitement, and give them exclusive offers to support your presale offer.
How to set up your products for presales
It's easy to offer presales, here's what to do:
- Set up a landing page and allow customers to pay you for the product ahead of time. Be sure to communicate clearly when customers should expect to receive their purchase.
- At the close of the presale window, let Vervante know how many you need printed.
- Send us an export from your shopping cart of all presale orders and we'll ship your planner or product to each of your customers.
Each person's situation might be different, so if you are planning on offering presales, it's always a good idea to consult with our publishing team so we can make sure you're optimizing each step. Just reach out at sales@vervante.com or schedule a 1-on-1 call using our online scheduler.